Conomo Point panel to listen to mediator

By Robert Cann
Staff Writer

January 07, 2009 05:50 am

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ESSEX — Still seeking an appropriate future for the currently exposed and frozen Conomo Point, selectmen and the Conomo Point Planning Committee are giving a special audience to Boston lawyer and Essex resident Barry Weiner.

The irregularly scheduled meeting, to be held in the Senior Center at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, was prompted when Weiner approached selectmen with an offer to help resolve the long-standing debate over what should be done with Conomo Point, Selectmen Chairman Raymond Randall said.

Weiner, a founder of the Ruberto, Israel & Weiner law firm, was named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, an honor given to attorneys who are highly regarded among their peers. He has also served as an arbitrator, a mediator and is an adjunct professor of advanced alternative dispute resolution at Boston University School of Law.

"He is going to talk about his observations based on dialogues he's had with various people in town," Randall said. "We have given him an opportunity to share ideas that he thinks are relevant."

"We would be unlikely to do this if Barry didn't have expertise in mediation and resolution," Randall said.

Weiner, who is not a Conomo Point resident, could not be reached yesterday for comment.

Last fall, the town hired a Sandwich-based, land-use engineering firm, Horsley & Witten Inc., to survey the Conomo Point land and make recommendations as to how to subdivide property to the south of Robins Island Road.

Town officials are looking to have a preliminary plan presented to the Planning Board in March, with the goal of developing a final plan for presentation to the annual Town Meeting on May 4. Leases on the properties expire in 2011.

Robert Cann can be reached at gt_reporter@gloucestertimes.com

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